TI-M president Muhammad Mohan urged the finance ministry and the special Cabinet committee on national governance to meet with civil society and experts to appoint an independent panel to monitor the MRT3 project via a proper integrity pact.

“For best results, consultation should commence before the tender documents are finalised and set in stone,” he said in a statement.

He said the integrity pact is a tool developed in the 1990s by Transparency International to help the government, businesses and civil society to prevent corruption in public contracts.

Muhammad also said integrity pacts in Malaysia were introduced via a circular by the ministry.

The model includes commitments for contracting authorities and bidders concerning integrity and anti-corruption measures, as well as sanctions for non-compliance.

“However, what is missing is that it does not establish an independent monitoring mechanism.”

He said an agreement should be signed with independent technical experts, outside of the government, tasked to monitor and publicly report on the progress and quality of the project delivery.

“We stand at the pivotal time in Malaysia in the fight against corruption, be it petty or grand corruption. Will we change the tide or will the same old story repeat itself?

“Using the integrity pact tool in proper form, complete with external third-party monitoring, will surely go some way to make the right difference,” Muhammad said.

Last month, Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) said it would be undertaking a three-month public inspection exercise for the MRT3 project starting from Sept 2 to Dec 2.

The exercise is intended for the public to review and provide feedback on the proposed alignment, site and context plans as well as other essential project details.

The project, spanning 51km, will integrate with existing MRT, light rail transit, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd and monorail lines through 10 interchange and connecting stations.